Cairo Celebrations Spread to D.C.

Published February 12, 2011•Updated on February 12, 2011 at 10:36 am

While jubilant crowds cheered the ouster of Hosnai Mubarak in Cairo's Tahrir Square, Egyptians here in the D.C. region were also celebrating.

At Arlington's Jerusalem Restaurant, customers watching events on fold over the television were elated. Mohamed Khattab, one of those celebrating there, said that his 83-year-old father was among the throngs out in the streets of Cairo. "This is really a shock to the whole world," Khattab said.

Elsewhere in the region, a crowd formed outside of the Egyptian embassy on Friday. Tamer Mahmoud told WAMU that he had been in touch with family in Egypt. "The expression I keep hearing them say," Mahmoud said, "'It's as if we just won the World Cup.'"

A rally for human rights reforms will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday in D.C. in front of the White House. The gathering is being organized by Egyptian-American youth groups and Amnesty International.

Even after 18 days of protest calling for the departure of 30-year-president Mubarak, celebrating continued in Egypt. Happy residents were still honking their car horns late Friday night. "The January 25 Revolution won. Mubarak steps out and the army rules," said the official newspaper Al-Gomhuria.